Local

Detroit Street Floods, Freezes After House Fire

This west side Detroit home is a total loss after an early morning fire. (Credit: Mike Campbell/WWJ Newsradio 950)

DETROIT (WWJ) – Fire and ice are causing quite the stir in a neighborhood on Detroit’s west side.

Crews responded early Tuesday morning to a house fire in the 15000 block of Fairfield, near Livernois Avenue and the Lodge Freeway.

On top of battling single digit temperatures, firefighters had trouble getting water from frozen or otherwise non-working hydrants. By the time the water finally started working, the house was completely engulfed in flames.

Lynell Whitis, who lives next to the home that burned, said by the time he noticed the fire, it was too late.

“We came outside and the house was burning. We don’t know how it started but by the time I got out there, the whole front was almost to the ground,” Whitis told WWJ’s Mike Campbell.

After the firefighting effort, Fairfield Street from Fenkell to Chalfonte is now flooded from sidewalk to sidewalk — the water at least 4 to 6 inches deep in spots. Whitis said the water will likely freeze over, since there’s no where for it to go with snow blocking all the storm drains. He said it’s something that happens “every winter.”

“This is going to freeze up and nobody is going to do nothing about it. The drains are messed up,” he said. “Man, I’m going to need ice skates to get past the end of my driveway.”

A cause of the fire remains under investigation. No injuries were reported.

Fairfield Street on Detroit’s west side is flooded after firefighting efforts. Residents fear the street will freeze and disable their vehicles. (Credit: Mike Campbell/WWJ Newsradio 950)